The past two weeks have seemed to pass us by very quickly! A special thank you to all of our parents who were able to attend conferences. We really enjoyed sharing with all of you all the wonderful things that your children have accomplished thus far. If you ever have any further questions about how your child might be doing, feel free to contact us at any time and we will be more than happy to fill you in! This past week we learned all about arctic animals. The kids had a blast trying to ‘save the animals’ out of the big ice cube located in our sensory table! The purpose of this week was to expose the children to different animals that they may never have seen before, and identify that their habitat is where the weather is cold. This theme was able to correlate well with our current weather that we have in Cleveland, so the children were able to make appropriate connections. In addition to arctic animals, we have also been introducing name writing into our daily routine. The children seem to really enjoy having ownership over figuring out the letters in their name and printing them on paper with some adult guidance. To practice more capital letter writing, spread out some shaving cream on a flat surface and guide their finger to have them feel and see the letters. This will help them in writing their name at school and will make learning fun at home!

Valentines day is approaching quickly so make sure to sign up on the sheet posted on the white board. We still have a few items that need to be brought in for our scheduled celebrations on Wednesday and Thursday of Valentines Day week! Make sure your child brings in 13 valentines with only your child’s name on each one. During Valentines Day week we will be creating bags for each child’s valentines, sorting conversation hearts, introducing letter writing and mailing and decorating a huge heart mural for our classroom door! In the upcoming week we will also be starting to learn about pets. If your child could start to think about a few pictures of their pets to share as well as a small bag of food that their pet likes to eat, that will prepare them for our theme! In addition, your child can also bring in a picture of a pet they would like to have or a stuffed animal from home. This theme will start to give the children the ability to share familiar members of their family with the class, as well as work on describing words to increase your child’s verbal skills. Please remember to send winter weather clothing into school since we still are going out for a full thirty minutes every day. This includes a warm winter coat, mittens/gloves, hat, snow pants, boots and scarf! We are very impressed at all the progress that all the children have been making and are looking forward to what is to come throughout the year! Thank you for your continual support.